


Violins and Tragedies

by SteamingCupofTea



Category: Original Work
Genre: Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-12
Updated: 2013-11-12
Packaged: 2018-01-01 06:14:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1041321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SteamingCupofTea/pseuds/SteamingCupofTea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Excerpt: "My eyes snapped open, lungs aching as I gulped down the precious air. It was all just a dream. It wasn't real. I told myself. The room small apartment was quiet, but I could hear Lilith's soft footsteps in the living room. I probably woke her… Again. I thought, rubbing at my leaking eyes with my sweatshirt-clad arm."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Violins and Tragedies

My arms flailed slightly as I screamed out. Thrashed around in the bed, tears rolled down my face. My eyes snapped open, lungs aching as I gulped down the precious air. _It was all just a dream. It wasn't real._ I told myself. The room small apartment was quiet, but I could hear Lilith's soft footsteps in the living room. _I probably woke her… Again._ I thought, rubbing at my leaking eyes with my sweatshirt-clad arm. I looked over at the clock and groaned slightly, three thirty. I curled into a ball, hugging my knees to my chest. They were always the same, the nightmares. They were more of memories than nightmares, though. It was always that painful image of when I came home from school all those years ago. I shuddered, more tears trailing down my cheeks.

As I laid there, curled up in bed listening to the soft patter of rain on the window I heard as Lilith tiptoed from the living room, into her room, and back again. My brow furrowed slightly wondering what she was doing, but I didn't need to wonder long. A sweet melody of Lilith's treasured violin rang out through the apartment. I smiled slightly at the soft, beautiful melody. I loved it when she played the violin. Even if some nights she would start playing at two in the morning to help her "think". The melody played out, leaving myself feeling a bit better. I didn't know if I woke Lilith with my nightmare, but I was positive that she knew about them. She always seemed to know, even if I didn't yell out. I would always wake up and curl into a ball, then the sound of the beautiful violin would float through the air.

I sighed slightly, rubbing at my eyes again and sat up. _There's no use going to bed now. I'll never get myself back to sleep._ The violin my calm me down, but no matter what happens I can never fall back asleep afterwards. Whenever I close my eyes I see the scene flash before me again, like it's been burned onto the insides of my eyelids. I hug my arms closer to my chest and stand up, walking towards my bedroom door. _I might as well make myself a cup of tea, maybe I can watch something on Netflix or catch up on my book._ I think, opening the door and walking into the living room.

* * *

Lilith opened her eyes upon hearing the door open and smiled softly at me. She continued playing the soft melody as if nothing had happened, closing her eyes again. I smiled lightly, grateful she didn't ask what had happened. She did that once, the first week we had begun sharing an apartment. I went rigid, my eyes glazing over in fear, I had never told anyone about my nightmares. The only people who knew about them was my roommate in college, who I haven't seen in years, and my father. Lilith saw the automatic change in my behavior and stood up, murmuring something about needing to buy milk. She had let the subject drop and for that I was grateful.

I walked into the kitchen and filled the kettle with water, setting it on the stove. "Can you make me a cup, too?" Lilith asked, not missing a beat on her violin.

"Already planned on it," I told her, walking back into the living room with a small smile on my face, it didn't meet my eyes though. Lilith could see that easily, but she didn't comment. She continued the melody, playing until the kettle started to whistle. I got up and walked into the small corner that wasn't truly a kitchen, (It was just a small section of our living room really. Just with a tiled floor, stove, fridge, sink, and dishwasher, not to mention some other small, kitchen appliances), jumping slightly when my bare feet hit the cold tiles. I quickly took the kettle off the stove and poured the hot water into the two mugs I had gotten out. I placed a bag of Earl Grey into each cup and added the precise amount of sugar into each, and a dash of milk in mine.

I carried the cups out to Lilith, who took hers gratefully, setting her violin back into its case gently. "Want to watch Doctor Who or Supernatural?" she asked, a smile gracing her lips as she blew on her tea.

"Hmmm, British comedy/sci-fy or American comedy/sci-fy. This is a tough decision, but I think I must remain loyal to The Doctor and go with Doctor Who," I said with a small laugh, taking a sip of my tea. Lilith always did know how to make me feel better.

"Alright. Do you want to randomly pick, randomly pick a Ten episode, randomly pick a Ten and Rose episode, or do you have an episode in mind?" she asked me, taking a sip of her own tea.

"To any non-Whovian that sentence wouldn't have made any sense, and a random Ten and Rose episode sounds good," I giggled, pulling the blanket off the couch behind me and curling up with it.

Lilith chuckled and agreed, closing her eyes and picking which season two episode we should watch. "Satan Pit, it is," she declared happily, pulling her own blanket off the chair she was sitting on.

* * *

The hour passed by with us quietly urging Ten to tell Rose his feelings about her, even though it won't happen, not forgetting the appropriate yelling in frustration/sadness/anger every so often. It doesn't matter how many times we may have seen this episode (which is at very least a dozen), we will have the same reaction every time. The episode ended and we both were out of tea and I could hear my stomach rumbling.

I sighed and stood up. _Thank God I'm off of work today._ I thought as I yawned quietly. I took Lilith's mug from the table and stood up, on my way to the "kitchen". Lilith, however, had other plans as she took both hers and my mug from my hands.

"I got it. It's my turn for breakfast today," she explained to my confused face.

I rolled my eyes and walked back to the couch. She made breakfast last time, it was supposed to be my turn and she knew it. Although I'm not complaining, when Lilith gets into a mood she won't do anything for days at a time, leaving me with breakfast duty until she decides to snap out of it.

"Veggie omelets, alright? We seem to be out of bacon, ham, _and_ turkey. However we do have broccoli, spinach, avocado, and mushrooms," she stated, looking through the vegetable drawer.

I shrugged, that didn't sound too bad. "Sounds like a plan, just don't burn it like last time!" I called back, teasingly.

"Jade, you know it wasn't my fault last time!" Lilith yelled, frowning slightly.

I raised an eyebrow at her. "Of course not! It was the stove's fault! It was the one that forgot to take the pan of eggs off while you were in the shower, and while I was still asleep!" I stated sarcastically, a smirk present on my face.

She frowned and glared at me, pulling the eggs and vegetables out of the fridge. She grumbled something that sounded a lot like, 'It was the stoves fault,' which made me giggle loudly.

"Keep telling yourself that, Lils," I laughed, rolling my eyes again.

The omelets came out perfectly, the mozzarella exquisitely melted on top. We ate in a companionable silence, another episode of Doctor Who playing on the television. "Jade?" Lilith asked, causing me to look away from whatever adventure Eleven, Amy, and Rory were up to now (we had done a random Eleven pick).

"Yes, Lils?" I answered, taking another bite of my omelet.

She looked down at her fork for a second, then back at me. I could tell she was nervous about something, but I didn't know what. "I know that you don't want to talk about it, and I'm not forcing you to, but…" she trailed off, looking down at her omelet again. "What are your nightmares about?" she asked quietly, meeting my eyes again.

I felt myself stiffen and looked down at my eggs, pushing them around with my fork. I knew it wouldn't last much longer until she asked again. I closed my eyes and sucked in a breath.

"Like I said Jade, you don't have to tell me. It's none of my business. I just worry about you," she said, concern prominent in tone.

I sighed and shook my head. "It is your business, though. I'm your roommate and I wake you up practically once every couple of weeks by screaming. You have a right to know, it's just… I've only ever told one person, not including my dad," I said, opening my eyes and looking at her.

Lilith nodded her understanding and held up her index finder. "One minute, this requires a fresh cup of tea," she said, standing up and going to put the kettle on.

I smiled slightly, and shut my eyes again. _Now where do I begin?_ I asked myself, sitting back on the couch. _This shouldn't be as difficult as it is, I'm 24 for God's sake._ I scolded myself in my head, rubbing at my face.

Lilith came back in and set the cup of tea down in front of me before plopping back down in her chair. I gave her a small smile and picked up the mug, raising it to my lips. I blew on it and took a sip, then set it down on the table and rubbed my hands over my face.

"It happened when I was twelve, a week before my birthday," started, hugging my knees to my chest. "I had just gotten home from school, when I noticed the window next to the front door was broken. It was odd, because my mom was supposed to be home. She always was when I got home. I pushed the door open and saw that almost everything of value was gone from the house. We'd been robbed," I told Lilith, swallowing hard.

"I walked slowly through the house, panicking a bit and looking for my mom. She was a police officer, so I figured she might be in the backyard on the phone with the station. I was walking past her bedroom when I heard her. She was calling out my name. It was soft, but I heard her. I walked into her room and saw," I stopped, the words catching in my throat. I picked up my tea with shaking hands and took a sip.

"I saw her laying there on the ground, clutching her stomach. There was blood everywhere. I stood there in shock for minute, staring at her. She was crying, when I snapped out of it she told me to run. To get the phone and dial 9-1-1. She told me she loved me, and that I had to call dad after I called the ambulance," my whole body was shaking as I recalled the memory and there were tears rolling down my cheeks. Lilith got up from her chair and sat down next to me, wrapping her arms around my shoulders, her own eyes misty with tears.

"The ambulance came and rushed her to the hospital, but she had already lost too much blood and the knife had punctured some of her organs. She passed away a few hours later with my dad and me by her hospital bed," I finished, a sob escaping my lips.

"I'm so sorry, Jade. I'm so sorry. No one should have to go through something like that," Lilith murmured, tears falling onto her own cheeks.

I nodded and rubbed at my eyes. "She used to play the violin, my mom. That's why I tolerate your obsessive violin playing at two in the morning, it reminds me of her," I confessed.

Lilith raised her eyebrows and backed up a bit. "What did she used to play?"

I looked up at her and furrowed my brow together. "She played a lot of Tchaikovsky," I said after thinking for a moment.

She leapt to her feet and opened her violin case, pulling out the violin and beginning to play Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto, one of my mother's favorites. She looked over at me for confirmation that what she was doing was alright.

I nodded and closed my eyes, rubbing at them again. I let myself drift away in the beautiful music, trying to imagine my mother playing in her office while I sat cross-legged on the floor watching her.


End file.
